Government shutdown: Trump attacks Democrats and calls for

'nuclear option'. As the second day of the US government shutdown wore on, there appeared little sign of progress.

i:Donald Trump is seen in the Oval Office, in a White House handout picture. Photograph: White House​

As both parties blamed each other, the White House went on the attack.

Donald Trump used Twitter to urge Senate Republicans to end the impasse by taking the “nuclear option” if the “stalemate continues”.

Such a move would allow Republicans to pass legislation without Democratic support, lowering the majority needed to pass a bill to 51 votes. It is however not favoured by the GOP Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, who would in any case not have had enough votes to avert the shutdown on his own.

The president also argued that Democrats were placing the nation’s borders under threat by opposing a short-term budget fix. “The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked,” he tweeted.